For most of human existence our ability to play together has been circumscribed by our physical connection with others in our immediate vicinity, a radiating circle of family, friends, and neighbors, spiced with an occasional get together with more distant associates. As I write this blog, we are in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic that has mandated new social distancing rules greatly limiting our ability to gather with others. And yet the play must go on. Fortunately for us, […]
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A Monopoly on Monopoly: Parker Brothers’ Pursuit of a Game to Call Their Own
The Strong recently released an online exhibit on the early history of Monopoly, and it details the complex origins of one of the world’s most iconic games. What started as The Landlord’s Game, patented by Elizabeth Magie in 1904, eventually became a game called Monopoly that Charles Darrow sold to Parker Brothers in 1935. A lot happened in between those dates, including other versions of the game showing up in homes and stores courtesy of other alleged or unknown inventors. […]
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Cute as Button
For as long as I can remember, I have been fascinated by buttons. Often small and unassuming, these objects may blend into their surroundings and often go largely unnoticed. And yet they serve a critical purpose to hold things together or keep things in place. It may be a stretch, but I tend to think my love of buttons may be a character trait I inherited—genetically or otherwise—from my grandmother. Born and raised in Massachusetts, she had the […]
Pin the What?!
What sort of party games stick in your memory? No, not the ones from your teen years which involved getting your first kiss. I’m thinking of the classic party games for children’s birthday parties. And one of the top party games for that demographic—at least in my childhood—would have to be Pin the Tail on the Donkey. The earliest donkey pinning games in The Strong museum’s collection come from the 1890s, which aligns with accounts from the internet (because you […]
Saving Speedrunning and Digital Communities
How do you preserve the history of a community? What even makes up a community? How can you store something so abstract, intimate, and interpersonal in files and text? These are the questions I was asking last summer at The Strong. My goal as an intern at the International Center for the History of Electronic Games (ICHEG) was to curate and archive the history of video game speedrunning—the act of beating video games as rapidly as possible by any means […]
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Continuing the Adventure from Home: Tabletop Role-Play Games while Social Distancing
For most gamers, rolling for initiative has been put on hold for the moment. Presently, due to social distancing guidelines, fans of role-playing games find themselves unable to go to each other’s living rooms to weave a story through teamwork and creativity.
Thankfully even with the obstacle of quarantines and lockdowns, there are options for those role-playing stories to continue and opportunities to create new adventures! We are fortunate that this era is also the digital age, and programs such as […]
Name That Tune
Like many folks born into musical families, I grew up around people always playing and making music. My family takes seriously the learning benefits of strumming guitars and drumming on pots and pans. But developing an ear for rhythm also helped us create our own fun almost anywhere. Playing with music might be my family’s favorite thing to do; we dive into song parodies, genre trivia, impromptu karaoke battles, operatic renditions of Billboard hits, and more. Our music […]
Getting Away: Is It a Vacation or Trip?
Vacation. It’s a pleasant-sounding word and an even nicer thought. Most folks sigh at the very mention of it or even get a wistful, far-off look, whether they’re thinking about an upcoming planned getaway or just wishfully dreaming of one (as many of us are these days).
There are scientific studies dedicated to proving the legitimate health benefits of regular vacations, research that most of us would favorably support. On the other hand, I’ve also encountered people who have […]
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Memories of Atlantic City: It’s Not Just Monopoly
Mary Valentine, The Strong Museum Trustee
Most of us know the connection that Monopoly has to Atlantic City, but for me there’s more to the story than just the board game. Now that June has officially kicked off the summer—and in some ways, it may not be the kind of summer we expected—this might be a good time to share some memories.
We didn’t have Disneyland or Hershey Park or Six Flags when I was growing up in the late ‘50s […]
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